Black Widow grabbed her coat as she rose from her seat on the plane. The flight from Washington D.C. to Gotham City had been quick, which was the only reason why she had kept her sanity. Brady had attempted to introduce Wolverine to some video game and it hadn’t gone over too well. Mainly because Wolverine apparently didn’t play video games ever, which seemed very weird to Brady. Unfortunately, he had made his misgivings rather public, and Wolverine hadn’t taken kindly to the veiled insult. Meanwhile, she had taken the time to wrestle with a problem that had been plaguing her for some time.

The dream state that Mister Miracle had induced in all of them.

Her worst nightmare wasn’t that the world would know everything that she’d done. Her worst nightmare was that the world would know everything that she’d done when she couldn’t remember everything herself.

It was something that she had to work on. Katarina had been through a lot and her memory was not one hundred percent when it came to her formative years. This was something that had once given her comfort. Plausible deniability was something that she liked. In addition, it had allowed her to have a level of ease when it came to the actions that she was undertaking.

But now, things were different. She was working with Vanguard more and more. Besides that, she was in rooms with people like Captain America and Thor now. Captain America had a very distinct belief in who he was and more importantly, what he stood for. Those beliefs were shatter proof. Thor knew who he was and what he fought for, even if it didn’t always make sense to a regular person looking into this glass world. Wolverine was the same. No one could question Black Panther on the subject of knowing who he was and what he fought for.

Katarina couldn’t answer that question. Not anymore. It was troubling. What was worse than that was that she wasn’t sure how to fix this problem. That was what she had been trying to figure out during the plane ride.

Now they were in Gotham though. Which meant that it was time to go to work. She swung the coat around her to ward against Gotham’s unnaturally always-chilly weather. Stepping off the plane, she took a few steps before turning to look at Spider-Man, who was standing on the top of the boarding ramp and refused to come down. Wolverine was already on the ground next to her and he looked back up.

Spider-man laughed mockingly, doubled over and slapped his knee dramatically. "Oh, ha ha ha. Like I would forget that!"

Under his mask Brady frowned. Between poking fun at Wolverine and his lack of humor...not to mention his lack of playing video game...for a moment he though he did forget the scanner. Mentally commanding he sent Moe, one of the waldoes, back into the plane, the camera at the tip displayed on his HUD. He breathed a silent sigh of relief when he saw the remote sized device and the waldo brought it back to his hand, carefully hidden behind his back. Then he held it out for everyone to see. "See! You think I'm stupid or something?"

"...or something." Both Katrina and Wolverine stated under their breath.

"You know, Batsy could be anywhere." Spider-man says as he walks down the steps of the plane. "Hell, for that matter, one of you could be Batsy. Especially you Wolvie, you have the same meanie demeanor he is reported to have."

Wolverine responded by extending his middle claw at Spider-man.

"Ooo, such an obscene gesture from a pristine man...and in front of a lady too." He chuckled under his mask and flipped the scanner on and a low pitched beeping sound came from it. He pointed it around, the beeping came faster as it pointed at Black Widow.

"That's interesting." Spider-man stated as he stepped closer to her, and the beeping intensified and then became a solid tone as he stood only a foot in front of her.

Katrina's expression was one of genuine surprise and confusion. "What the hell? Is it detection Infinity Wave energy in me?!"

Suddenly Spider-man slapped himself in the side of the head. "Doh! I'm sorry, I had it set on the 'Totally Hawt' setting, and it went off the scale with you here."

Wolverine’s breath turned into steamy fog as he gruffly made a noise of annoyance. “I’m gonna skewer Davis for sticking me with this kid.” He said. His eyes took in a plane that was coming in for a landing at a different part of the airport. There were other places that he would rather have been at that moment. After all, everything that they were doing was not part of his plans. The importance of the world’s safety outweighed his personal problems, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t on his mind. He looked down at one of his gloved fists. Payback was a bitch, and there were still people on the list that he had to bring it to.

No, Wolverine’s path to payback wasn’t complete, far from it. Maybe he was taking detours, but he was going to get there. The people on that list, this was another night that they could sleep easily, but there was a night coming that they wouldn’t be sleeping anymore.

The man’s gaze turned back to the other two. “Can we get a damned move on?” He asked. “I want to get this over with as quickly as possible.” He added.

“What’s up your butt?” Brady asked, as he fiddled with the scanner so that the noise went away. “Are you not enjoying our mini team up?” He asked. Then Brady pointed at himself. "I am. I haven’t been able to admire Black Widow’s eyes in the moonlight like this since we met."

“Only went to Wakanda as a favor for Gracie.” Wolverine replied, as they started walking to a Vanguard vehicle. “Everything else has been unnecessary.” He said. “Fish men was one thing to deal with. I don’t mind gutting them. God damn Sheppard was something else. That’s Captain America. Davis is good, but Sheppard was unstoppable.” He added.

“Derek was an amazing person, while even when all he had was shreds of his sanity. I suppose altruism is out of the question?” Katrina asked, as they got into the vehicle. Spider-Man shoved Wolverine out of the way so that only he and Black Widow could be in the rear of the vehicle.

He growled, staring at Spider-Man through the glass of the door. Getting into the vehicle, he turned, from his seat in the front and shook his head. “Don’t count on it.” Wolverine said and turned back around. As they started driving, Wolverine spoke once more. “If a single waldo touches my head, Quinn, it’s coming off of the suit and then we’ll answer the question of what’s up your butt."

“I would never!” Brady replied. He waited for a few moments, and then whispered to Black Widow. “For the record, he can’t read minds, right?”

His eyes were tired, but he forced them to stay open. He was out of coffee and he couldn’t be bothered to get up to get more. This was it; this was the last thing he would ever have to do at Gotham General Hospital. Benedict Black had finally completed his residency and was a full-fledged doctor. He signed his name electronically on the .pdf file and saved it, attaching it to the email that he was working on. The man was a surgeon, a heart surgeon. When he had graduated from Gotham University, all of his teachers had been astonished at how good his hands were. He’d been born for surgery, they’d said. Getting the residency at Gotham General had been almost a given.

Benedict had turned down other hospitals, even though they would have brought a large amount of name brand recognition. He liked Gotham, and was only now starting to get used to the city. He was an introvert who covered his shortcomings with a wit as dry as the Sahara. But to him, it was not wit; it was simply stating the facts, as he perceived them. His mind worked differently than others, Benedict had learned that at a young age.

Black rose, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. As he did, he also reached for the necklace that he had taken off some hours earlier and placed on the table. He never went into surgery without it. Actually, he never went anywhere without it. He wasn’t one to leave the only inheritance he had out of sight.

When you had to give everything to the debt collectors, sometimes, they let you have the leftovers. In this case, they had appraised the necklace and had found no real monetary value to it, and so had let Benedict keep it. His mother had worn it around her neck for years. It was a simple sterling silver chain and the pendant was a small odd shaped gem. The color itself was odd, a dull yellow that sometimes changed color depending on the light. It wasn’t a man’s kind of jewelry, or a woman’s style, really, but it was the only thing that Benedict had that connected him to his family.

It had been him and his mother, before she’d had gotten sick. His father had walked out on them when Benedict was a boy. Sometimes, as his mother told it, his father had never been in the picture, and he was the product of an affair. Either way, he had never known his father, and his mother’s side of the family had disowned her after he had been born. So when his mother had gotten sick, the bills and the debt had started piling up.

He’d pulled himself out of all of that, and had dragged a massive ego along with it.

No one would ever tell him that he couldn’t do something, because he knew damn well what he had come from and that if he could come from that, then there was nothing that he couldn’t do.

Benedict threw the jacket on and turned out the lights in his small office, his day over. It was time to get home and get some sleep.

The scanner appeared to be working correctly, giving them a triangulated location within Gotham City of approximately four city blocks. But in a city like Gotham, with everyone and everything packed together, it meant that the three of them were searching buildings that stretched into the sky, and were filled with people and families. While they had someone with them who was possibly the world’s greatest tracker, it was nearly impossible for him to track someone across a spectrum that he could not see or smell. Black Widow had shot down Spider-Man’s idea that they canvas the entire four-block community and see who was there that way. It was a good idea, but he had wanted to set up tents, camp out, and talk to everyone personally, while in costume.

It would be too time consuming. This whole thing was based around speed. They had no idea who might also be looking for the Infinity Gem at the same time that they were. Thanos had sent Derek Sheppard, but that didn’t mean that he was the only one that Thanos had sent. Also, Widow was still concerned about what Doom’s involvement in all of this had been. After all, he had been a big part of how they had gone to Asgard and how a lot of this had been started.

She had her theories, but there was too much variable information for the spymaster to sort through in order to come up with a concrete and credible theory. She stood now on the rooftop of one of the buildings across the street from the four-block section that they had to search.

“This is ridiculous.” Wolverine said and she nodded. “How the hell are we going to search all of the buildings and find a tiny ass gem?” He asked, looking up at her.

“I don’t know, but this is supposed to be Spider-Man’s department.”

“Whoa, I got us here.” Spider-Man said. “Did any of you build a scanner that narrowed things down from a city with like a half a billion people in it to four blocks? I didn’t think so.” He said. “Look, all the scanner can tell us is that this area is pretty thick with the Infinity Wave energy.”

They turned and looked as a Gotham City bus drove by, and a few people, including a tall black haired man got off, walking up and into one of the buildings.

“I brought us here.” Spider-Man said. “You two are supposed to be the spy, tracker, information people things.” He said. “Go forth, minions.”

"Woah...what a minute..." Spider-man said as he moved the scanner back and forth towards the apartment building that the people that had just got off the bus were heading to. "I think I'm getting something here." It was now that the other members of the party could hear a rise in the tones coming from the scanner.

"What do you mean think Webhead." Wolverine growled. "Either you are, or you ain't getting a reading."

"You really need to brush up on basic english Wolvie, using 'ain't' in a sentence doesn't make you come off as real intelligent." Spider-man remarks.

"That's it, I'm gonna give him a cut...just a little one." Wolverine's claws popped out and he took a step towards Spider-man.

"Stay those claws Wolverine." The Widow stepped between them, then turned to Spider-man. "Do you have something or not?"

"Yes." He moved the scanner back and forth, narrowing the turns, until he suddenly got a solid tone issuing from the machine. "There!" He pointed towards the dark-haired man, and then webbing spun out from his wrist and he launched himself into the air.

"Spider-man....wait!" Widow hissed, but he was already gone.

Benedict was dead tired from his day at work, and was paying more attention to the sidewalk and trying to keep moving one foot in front of the other.

"Pardon me sir." A voice asked nearby.

"Sorry Pal, I don't have any change." Benedict stated perfunctorily without looking up.

"Listen pal." The voice said, and Benedict felt a tap on his shoulder.

"I told you..." Benedict turned around snapping his head up...and found no one standing there. "What...?"

"Up here toots."

Benedict looked up and he stumbled several steps back in shock as Spider-man hung upside-down from his webbing from the streetlamp. "Easy there fella, I'm not here to hurt y..."

Spider-man's senses suddenly went haywire, just seconds before there was a faint whistling sound in the air. One of the metallic objects sliced through his webbing, and Spider-man twisted and spun in nearly impossible movements as he fell to avoid several others that missed him by the merest of centimeters. Spider-man deftly landed on his feet in front of Benedict and faced the direction that his senses were telling him the danger was coming from.

From the corner of the apartment building a shadow crouched on the narrow ledge, the streetlight casting a faint glow on the symbol of a bat on the shadows broad chest.

"Oh shit...it's the goddamn Batman." Spider-man said as he swallowed the hollow lump in his throat.

This was what Katrina had been trying to avoid. It had been only a little over a year that sightings of the Batman had been confirmed as the vigilante having returned, but that didn’t mean that she believed in them. Still, there was nothing like trying your luck, and Brady was habitual at testing his luck in the most precarious of situations. Now he had put them in direct confrontation with the Batman, a man who, if the stories over the past year were to be believed, was more vicious than the Devil himself. One of the reports that S.H.I.E.L.D. had made had quoted a would be mugger who had claimed that Devil answered to Batman and you could hear his voice haunting your waking moments.

The Widow’s Bite gauntlets crackled as she came over to where Spider-Man was. She just wanted to talk to this man for a few moments, and see why the scanner said he had the gem they were looking for. “You really have to pay attention to what you’re doing, you know.” She whispered to Spider-Man.

“So about the giant Bat guy?” He asked.

“Let me handle him.” Wolverine said, and the claws popped out.

Spider-Man’s optical sensors picked up the thin line of Batman’s mouth ticking slightly upwards, as if to smirk. “That might not be a good idea.”

“What the hell is going on?” Benedict asked, bewildered. “Is this some kind of trick? I know it my last day at the hospital, but honestly, this is the worst kind of parlor trick I think I’ve seen in my life. Your costumes aren’t even close to being believable.” He said. “Do you honestly think I’m going to believe that Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Wolverine, three Avengers, are standing in front of me.” He said.

Katrina’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I guess the guy behind you then has the worst costume of all.” She said.

Benedict turned, and found himself, due to the height difference, staring into the Bat symbol of Batman’s chest. There were scratch marks on the suit, deep cuts into the armor and it looked as if it had been through a war already that night. He took a reflexive step backwards, putting him more into the middle of the group. As he did, his necklace swung out from underneath part of his dress shirt, and Katrina saw the dull yellow gem attached at the end. She and Brady shared a look.

“What are you doing here?” Batman asked, looking past Benedict towards the three Avengers. “Vanguard knows better than to send people into my areas.”

“I didn’t realize that you were working this corner.” Spider-Man said, pointing down at the ground. “Is the user car dealership across the street open?” He asked.

Batman’s head shifted almost imperceptibly towards the far smaller man. “Do I really look like I’m in the mood for humor?” He asked.

“You might be in the mood for good humor.” Spider-Man said, and then used a Waldo as a hand to cup the Wolverine facing side of his face. “Wolverine has bad humor.” He said.

“None of you have answered my question.” Batman said. “What are you doing here?” He asked, as Benedict slowly stepped out of the way, but stayed right next to the group.

He knew that running wouldn’t make much sense, and the more inquisitive part of his mind wanted to know what was going on here.

A small smirk appeared over Batman’s visage. “Anything that has to do with Gotham City, has to do with me.” He replied.

“Maybe I forgot to send in my absentee ballot, but I think I voted for you as Mayor of Gotham.” Spider-Man replied. “Look, oh Dark One, we have no issues with you. We hope you have no issues with us. But we’re here on very important Vanguard business.” He said, puffing his chest out.

“I directly told an agent of Vanguard not to come to my city a few months ago.” Batman replied. “Kayla Evans, the Black Canary.”

“I….did not know that.” Spider-Man replied. He turned to Black Widow. “You have methods to seduce men and get them to do what you want, use them.”

Katarina rolled her eyes. “Batman, we’re not trying to start a fight.”

“He might be.” Batman said, pointing at Wolverine.

“Don’t point at me.” Wolverine replied, lifting his arms, as if the claws were going to come out. From behind his mask, his eyes were narrowing and there was a clear look of anger on his face. “You’re not as important as you think you are.”

Batman smiled. “Let’s assume I think I’m the most important person on this street right now.” He said. “That would still probably make me more important than you.”

“I’ve heard enough out of you.” Wolverine said, taking a step forward. “You don’t respect Vanguard, that’s fine. But we have the jurisdiction here, bub. You’re a clown dressed up as a bat.”

Spider-Man sighed. “You’re dressed up as a small bear. That’s not exactly - oh, people are moving.” He said, pointing at Benedict. “He’s moving. We’ve got a live one. Black Widow, deploy the boobs!”

Benedict froze in place, as the people around him turned and stared at him. Well, everyone but Batman and Wolverine who were still staring at each other. Benedict straightened and looked at the group. He pointed at them. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but this looks like something you guys need to work out. It doesn’t look like it concerns me.”

Widow looked back at Batman. “We’re looking for something.” She said. “Something small, and from our scanner,” Black Widow said, pointing to the item in Spider-Man’s hands, “it would appear that this man has the item.” She said, pointing over to Benedict.

He stared. “What?” He asked. “You think I have something you guys are looking for?” Benedict shook his head. “I don’t have anything.” He lifted his arms up. “I’m a medical resident.” He said. “I don’t have anything to do with Vanguard or the Avengers or any of you.”

Benedict looked down and saw that his necklace was visible, thanks to his motions. “My necklace?” He asked.

“Let me see that scanner.” Batman said, holding his hand out.

Spider-Man handed it over and Batman looked down at it.

“This is looking for a particular type of energy signature.” Batman said. He cocked his head to the side. “I’ve seen these readings before.” He added, turning towards Benedict. “Where did you get that necklace?”

“My…my mother gave it to me.” Benedict said. “I don’t know where she got it from.”

Black Widow took a step forward. There were a lot of combustible elements in the mixture in front of her. She wanted to make sure that there was nothing that could ignite the situation. “This isn’t just a necklace.” She said, making her voice calm and soothing. “It’s something incredibly powerful. It’s one of the Infinity Stones.” Katarina smiled when Benedict looked confused at her words. “The Infinity Stones are these…old things, older than the universe, and they all have the ability to do amazing things.”

“How did my mother get it?” Benedict asked.

“I have no idea.” Black Widow replied.

“But we need it.” Wolverine said with a growl. “Why are we wasting our time here?” He asked.

“Because I’m telling you to.” Batman replied, and Black Widow closed her eyes. This was precisely what she was trying to avoid in all of this.

“You’re not telling me to do anything, bub.”

“Wait, wait.” Benedict said. His fingers moved up, taking hold of the yellow stone encapsulated by the metal. It was the only thing he had of his mother anymore. The last vestiges of the life he had had grown up in and had always known. He had a reputation of being an egotistical prick because of what he had accomplished, all on his own. But even for him, he could tell that there was something going on that was beyond him.

He slid the necklace off and held it out to Black Widow. “Take it.” He said. “I don’t know what it is and I’m not sure why you need it. But it’s not every day when I see the four of you and three of you are asking me for a necklace my mom had.” He said. “Clearly, you need it more than I do.”

Black Widow raised an eyebrow. She could sense something that felt genuine in his body language and his tone. Holding her hand out, she waited as he dropped the necklace into her grasp. “Thank you,” She said. “You don't know how many people you’ve helped.” She turned to Batman. “We’ll be leaving now.”

A look came over his face, as if he was considering what his next move should be. Finally, he nodded. He turned to go but then turned back. “You tell Grace that the next time Vanguard agents are planning on coming to Gotham City, for any reason, I better know about it.”

“Or what?” Wolverine asked, scoffing. “What are you going to do about it?” He asked.

“The real question is what won’t I do about it.” Batman replied.

The claws popped out.

“Are we having a problem this evening?” A new voice said.

Everyone looked up, except for Batman, who had recognized the voice.

“Sonofabitch.” Wolverine said.

“That’s no way to refer to my mother.” Superman said, as he floated above everyone. “She’s quite a lovely lady.”

Wolverine turned to Superman. “We aren’t having a problem, this evening.” He said. “We’ve got what we came for.” He said, looking over at Black Widow who nodded. The claws retracted. “No need to test that whole Kryptonian thing.”

“Kryptonian thing?” Superman asked, his arms folded over his chest.

“You know what I meant.” Wolverine replied.

“Why are you always trying to fight people?” Spider-Man asked.

“It’s fun.” Wolverine said. “You got the trinket, right?” He asked. “Let’s go.” He said, and watched as Superman looked over at Batman who just continued to smirk and then over at Black Widow, where he saw the necklace in her hands.

Superman held up a hand. “Not so quickly.” He said. “I’ve seen something like that before. What do you want with an Infinity Stone?” He asked.

“None of your business.” Wolverine replied.

“It’s a long story.” Black Widow said, making a mental note to have a conversation with Brian about Wolverine’s ability to play well with others. “The short version is that someone is bringing together the Infinity Gems. There have been some…issues…brought to the light and we need to find them before other interested parties.” She said. “We have one in our possession, the Atlanteans used it during the attack on Washington D.C. not too long ago. Another was stolen from the Asgardians.” She added.

“And the other four?” Batman asked, his curiosity piqued now.

“We’re currently trying to track them.” She replied. “Spider-Man built a scanner to be able to locate them, and we have teams out trying to get them. One we can’t find. Another is here,” She said, holding up the necklace. “The third is in Kree Space. Thor, Wonder Man, and a contingent of Vanguard soldiers are going after that one. The fourth-“

“The fourth is in Antartica.” Superman said, folding his arms over his chest.

She paused, not sure how he knew that. Confusion flitted over her face. “That’s right.” Black Widow admitted. “Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Panther are currently en route there now.” She said. “How did you know that?” She asked.

“I know it, because I know where the Stone is.” Superman said. “I need to speak with Captain America and with Iron Man…with all of you, it seems.” He said. He turned to Batman. “Do you care to join us?” He asked.

Batman shook his head. “Not yet. But wherever you stick your nose, there generally ends up being something that drags me in too.” Batman said with a small smile. “But, if it’s something that involves the Infinity Gems, that is something I’m interested in.” He turned to the rest of the group. “You should hold onto your lunches. You’re going to be teleported into the Watchtower and from there…” He said and looked over at Superman.